# Satan in the bible (not witnessing)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satan-in-the-bible-not-witnessing/280029>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 15, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satan-in-the-bible-not-witnessing/280029 "2004-12-15T20:30:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satan-in-the-bible-not-witnessing/280029/41 "2004-12-17T20:52:45Z")

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> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#):
>
> It’s not a question of “believing,” it’s a matter of objective fact. The Isaiah quote is not a reference to Satan/“Lucifer”/the Devil (a concept that does not even exist in the Hebrew Bible) but a poetic comparison of the king of Babylon to the “Morning Star.” There is nothing in the Bible that refers to Satan being cast down to Earth.

What about Revelations 12:7-9

> [@](#):
>
> 7\* And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. The dragon and his angels waged war,  
> 8\* and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven.  
> 9\* And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

Or is the argument here that this is a different casting out then the one we’re talking about?

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**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2004, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/satan-in-the-bible-not-witnessing/280029/42 "2004-12-18T04:21:50Z")

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> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> What about Revelations 12:7-9

That’s in the future (maybe, Revelation’s timeline is wacky). If you look at the preceding chapters, there’s a lot of stuff that happens before Satan’s first defeat (there’s two more defeats later on); and that preceding stuff hasn’t happened yet (or, maybe it did in a way that the imagery alludes to, but we don’t know for sure).

Nitpick: Revelation. No final S.

Peace.

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